Chapter Twenty: The Family Man

The station house was getting busier, Maggie could see the hustle and bustle of other officers outside through the open blinds inside of the small office that she and Eva sat in. The undercurrent of their voices was a pleasant sound, she liked being around people more and more these days, that anxiety she had felt a few days ago beginning to reside.

"You want to be out there and instead you're stuck in here with me." Eva said miserably, her dark eyes lowered. She looked a lot like Antonio, both of his children did. She'd noticed it upon observing the pictures upon his mantelpiece. She had wondered what the two of them would grow up to be. Cops like their dad or something else?

"Actually." Maggie said leaning forward across the table conspiratorially. "I'd rather be in here otherwise I would be walking around in the rain and I do not like getting wet."

"I don't like it either." Eva submitted into the conversation, her shoulders straightening. "Like when you get so wet that it feels like you'll never get warm again."

"That is the worst." Maggie agreed before resting her chin on her hand. "I think we picked the wrong city to live because Chicago winters are always wet and windy."

Eva shivered at the thought, her hands pressing together between her knees before speaking again, her gaze sweeping up to meet Maggie's gaze.

"I didn't mean to upset my dad so much." she said quietly into the space between them. "I just really miss him."

Maggie rubbed her hands together, trying to find a response that was appropriate for the situation. She didn't like being caught in the middle of whatever was going on between Antonio and Laura but Eva looked so sad at the minute. She understood why Antonio had torn a strip off his daughter, his children were his life and if something happened to them he would never forgive himself. However Eva was hurting deep inside and it was something that he would eventually need to address. She understood how frightening it could be to be caught between two parents, how much it could mess with your head. Maggie's own father hadn't been a saint, she had known about his affairs for years before he died.

"I think you just really scared him." Maggie explained to Eva, catching the young girl's gaze as she spoke. "He sees a lot of bad things happen in his job and he doesn't want anything like that to happen to you."

"I know..." Eva began, her full lower lip beginning to tremble. "I just wanted to see him. Mom keeps cancelling on him and it just makes me so mad. I heard mom telling Aunt Jeanie they don't love each other anymore and I just wanted to let him know that we still love him, that me and Diego still want to be part of his life."

That sentiment hit Maggie right in the chest, it made her heart ache to hear those words. She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat before coughing in order to clear it. These kids were going through the ringer at the moment and it broke her heart.

"He misses you guys so much." Maggie said, clasping her hands together upon the desk. "He's always telling us all, how proud he is of the both of you."

"He does?" Eva asked softly, her eyes shining once more.

"All the time." Maggie confirmed.

There was silence for a moment before a low grumble echoed through the room, making Maggie burst into a grin while Eva's cheeks flushed red, her small hand coming to rest upon her stomach.

"I am gonna take a wild guess and say you're hungry." Maggie teased the young girl, her eyes flickering to the clock on the wall. It was well past lunchtime, she could feel hunger pangs in her own stomach. Eva nodded shyly.

"You ever been to the deli down the street?" Maggie asked Eva, removing her cell phone from her pants pocket and opening the message app with her thumb. "My friend Kim says they do the best turkey subs."

"I like Turkey subs." Eva informed Maggie as she typed out a message to Burgess.

She watched from the opposite side of the glass as Kim put down some of the reports she was filing to check her cellphone. She turned to face the window and giving both Maggie and Eva a thumbs up.

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Antonio was hovering, it was something that he rarely did but in this circumstance he couldn't help it. This conversation was one of the most difficult he would ever have to have in his adult life and he was struggling to find the fortitude for it. He gave himself a moment, his palms resting on the door frame as he watched two of the most important people in his life. Eva and Maggie were sitting side by side now, their backs to him, their heads bowed close together as they reviewed the same glossy magazine. They're turkey subs were half eaten, resting among the yellow paper they had been wrapped in as Eva jabbed her finger animatedly at one of the images. Maggie responded by nodding her head in agreement before picking up the plastic take out cup and sipping from the straw.

Seeing the two of them interact was interesting. he had always wondered how his children would react upon meeting Maggie. They had never been actually introduced, not the way Laura and her had been. He didn't want his kids anywhere near his job, especially after what had happened to Diego. His son still had nightmares, even more than a year on but he was resilient, he had bounced back incredibly well and the child therapist they had taken him to see had declared him healthy. Antonio couldn't count himself as lucky in that respect, he still dreamed of that horrific day, occasionally he would wake up in a cold sweat, his heart pounding because he had been too late to save his son and Diego's blood would be all over his hands. It was times like that, that he wished that Maggie had been there. He'd needed someone to talk to during those terrifying hours and she would have been his shelter away from the storm. She would have helped him get his head straight before he had resorted to wrapping a chain around his hand and beating the living shit out of their prisoner until he gave them the intel they required. None of that mattered though, he tried to convince himself. They had both done things that they weren't proud of. She was here now, looking after his daughter and he appreciated that more than he cared to admit.

"Hey." he said, making his presence known to the two females in that tiny office.

Eva's amber eyes darted away and she pursed her lips together as if to stop herself from speaking. Maggie's gaze flickered between the two of them before she cleared her throat and picked up the remainder of her Turkey sub before exiting the room.

Antonio sighed before stepping into the room entirely.

"I talked to your mother. She's on her way. She'll be here in half an hour." Antonio said before coming to sit in Maggie's vacated chair. He wanted to be at eye level with his daughter, to make her see the honesty in his eyes when he spoke to her. Eva clasped her hands together between her knees before speaking.

"Oh. Okay." She sounded disappointed and he got that. She'd come all the way here and he was sending her away again. He didn't want his children to feel abandoned or rejected, he wanted to make sure they knew exactly how much he loved him.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just you scared the hell out of me, honestly." he said, shaking his head before fixing his gaze weary gaze upon his daughter.

There were tears again in Eva's eyes and he hated that, hated that she was going through because of him and Laura. They had never meant for it to effect their children any more than it already had done but it was and they need to come up with a solution otherwise they would do more harm than good.

"But I wanted to see you." Eva said earnestly and it felt as if someone was stabbing dull knives into Antonio's heart over and over again. He considered his words carefully. He was not the type of man to condemn Laura in front of their children, he understood the misery that could cause.

"Look..." he trailed off trying to choose the right words before starting again. "Your ma and I, we're still figuring somethings out. She said you might've heard some things..."

"I don't know what to do..." she choked out.

It was at that moment Eva crumbled and it was everything Antonio could do not to wrap her in his arms and concede defeat. Salty tears ran down her cheeks as her shoulders quivered once more causing. Jesus it was like being punched in the gut. Antonio climbed onto his knees in front of his daughter, his hand resting gently upon hers.

"Hey, hey, hey." he murmured softly, drawing her attention back towards him. "You need to know something, Eva. I love you. I love you and your brother more than life itself."

It was true. When Diego had been abducted he would have torn the earth apart looking for his child. It hadn't mattered if he had lost his job, gone to prison or had been killed so long as his son was safe he hadn't cared and now looking at Eva, he would walk through fire if it meant that he could feel that smile grace his daughter's face again. Eva let out a shaky breath in an attempt to steady herself.

"I love you too, dad." she told him and he could see it in her eyes. This was hurting her as much as it hurt him and he wanted to spare his daughter that pain.

"You, Diego and me are a knot that'll never come undone. No matter what." he said tenderly, making sure that Eva could look into his eyes and see the truth of it shining there. "Yeah?"

Eva swallowed hard before nodding her agreement. Antonio wrapped his arms around her and held on tightly, his hand smoothing over her dark hair as she clutched onto him.

"That's my girl." he whispered. "That's my girl."